Greetings from your elementary chair!

I am thrilled to be serving KMEA in this position, and have learned a tremendous amount about our organization through being a festival chair. I want to encourage each of you to consider how you can help serve KMEA in the future.

I hope you have settled into your school year and are enjoying every minute that you spend with your students. I know each of us juggles many roles in our school but I want to encourage you to also take on the role of making musical connections to other curriculum areas and disciplines. As we enter the world of 21st Century Skills and Common Core, it is becoming even more important that our entire school embraces the team philosophy rather than closing our door and doing our "own thing". I have been working with my grade level teachers to team up to teach the science standards that focus on sound production.

Although it is a baby step, my classroom teachers are appreciative of my involvement and efforts to make sure our children receive the best possible instruction across the curriculum. What connections have come naturally to you in your teaching?

I look forward to seeing you at the In-Service Workshop in February. We have three wonderful headliners scheduled for this year. Cristi Miller, Andrew Ellingsen, and BethAnn Hepburn will be joining us for inspiring sessions focusing on choral music, technology, Orff, and Kodály.

The weather prevented David Frego and Artie Almeida from attending last year's workshop. Although we were unsuccessful in rebooking them for KMEA 2014, they will both be doing workshops in Kansas in 2014. David Frego will be presenting a Workshop for the Kodály Music Educators of Kansas on January 4, 2014. Please visit http://cratel.wichita.edu/wp-kmek/ for more information about David Frego's workshop. Artie Almeida will be presenting a workshop for the Kansas Orff Chapter on August 1 and 2, 2014. Visit www.kansasorff.org for more information about Artie Almeida's workshop.